Credit: Todd Williamson/Bravo
Vanderpump Rules recently returned to Bravo for its 12th season with a brand new cast of SURvers operating under the guidance of Lisa Vanderpump. Now, the newbies are opening up about the negativity toward the show and revealing who from the original cast has spoken to them.
Bravo announced the cast for season 12 of Vanderpump Rules in December 2025. It includes Venus Binkley, Jason Cohen, Shayne Davis, Chris Hahn, Angelica Jensen, Marcus Johnson, Audrey Lingle, Natalie Maguire, Demy Selem, and Kim Suarez.
US Weekly caught up with a few of the VPR stars at the Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala in December 2025. Regarding the backlash surrounding the rebooted show, Audrey said, “Honestly, the amount of negativity has just been overshadowed by all of the love, and it’s been so surprisingly overwhelming to feel that.”
She continued, “Anything that anyone has said that is negative has just been put in the ground tenfold by the kindness that people have given us.”
Venus agreed with Audrey. “I just feel very grateful for all the love that we’ve had at SUR and all the fans that have come in,” he said. “I know that there’s a lot of hate on the internet, but it just feels really nice to be surrounded by people who do love us, and the cast is sticking together no matter what.”
Marcus also had something to say about the opposing views fans have about the Vanderpump Rules reboot, with many saying Bravo should have simply given it a different name.
“There’s a lot of noise. There’s all different types of feedback — positive and negative — and it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the BS,” Marcus said. “But there’s so much positive feedback and support that I’ve just been focused on that and the people that are here to enjoy and get to know us. I’m feeding into that, and I’m drowning out all the rest of it.”
Finally, Kim also offered her two cents. According to her, “There is a lot of noise. So I think these are the parts that we’ve been really trying to enjoy, which is just the support and the excitement, and it’s kind of a, ‘How did we get here?’ kind of moment.”
Natalie, who was also at the Vanderpump Dogs event, told the outlet that several of the former VPR stars had been in touch. She revealed, “Tom Schwartz was just in SUR this week at our watch party. He’s supportive. We just met Stassi inside.”
Audrey then said of Stassi Schroeder, “She was so supportive, so nice.”
The Vanderpump Rules cast also spoke to The Daily Mail about who from the old group they’ve been in touch with. “Tom Schwartz is my boy. He came to our watch party a couple days ago. We had some old fashions and some tequila shots. And he’s given me some advice,” Marcus told the outlet. “Schwartz is my boy.”
He then shared the advice Tom gave him, recalling, “Just go with the flow. Be yourself. Don’t let everything, all the noise, get you down, and focus on all the opportunities that are coming.”
Kim also called Tom “so kind and generous.” Venus told the outlet that he was recently with Tom, explaining, “I was with Tom Schwartz yesterday. He’s amazing.”
According to Audrey, “Several of them have reached out. Some of them haven’t. We are grateful that even the few that have reached out have said nice things. It gives us motivation.”
Finally, Natalie was already “friendly” with Scheana, and “Kristen has reached out.”
Vanderpump Rules season 12 airs on Tuesday nights on Bravo. Fans can stream the series on Peacock.